Proposed cut in mail service stirs debate

Postmaster General John E. Pot­ter's testimony to Congress last week on the possibility of reducing one day of mail delivery offered “little insight,” and the move would “not arrest” the US Postal Service's financial slide,” said American Postal Worker's Union President William Burrus.

The USPS is facing a $2.8 billion deficit this year, and total mail vol­ume was down 9 billion in 2008. The deficits could force the USPS to eliminate one extra delivery day, Potter told Congress.

“The American public would lose one day of mail service, which would stretch to three days when … combined with Sunday and a Monday holiday,” Burrus wrote in a letter to union members. “Such delays will drive essential mail to private carriers, who will continue to deliver seven days a week.”

Burrus said that the economy, not electronic communication as Potter claims, is eating into the total mail volume, noting that 2006 saw the highest volume of mail in the history of the USPS.

National Association of Letter Carriers union president William Young released a statement saying that “there are no plans” to elimi­nate six-day mail delivery.

“NALC is working with the Postal Service… to [overcome] the economic crisis,” he wrote.